Whether mountain biking or road biking, packing efficiently for whatever length of ride is critical. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, learn what is essential for your ride, including fuel, and a repair kit for fixing flats, and the different size packs to hold it all. And though mountain biking can require more supplies, these can be stored inside a hydration pack, which is standard gear for a mountain bike ride. Whether you are stuck with a flat or low blood sugar, don’t be caught unprepared!

Helmets are extremely important when doing cycling of any kind! Protect yourself from serious injury by wearing a properly fitting helmet. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, Luke demonstrates a proper helmet fit, explaining that you want the fit and the retention system to be enough to hold the helmet in place. Learn where the chin straps should go, and how tight they should be. Finally, since helmets are designed for protection, learn what to look for the next time you’re in the market.

The clothes may not maketh the man, but it's the cycle jersey that maketh the cycling champion! Art's Cyclery walks you through the three aspects to consider when selecting a cycling jersey: fabric, construction, and additional features. Learn about the importance of moisture wicking, the differences between a race cut and semi-fitted jersey, and get a list of some key additional features a more expensive jersey will include.

Learn how to ride your bicycle in traffic - safely! This lesson demonstrates cycling hand signals, merging guidelines for bicycles, and offers some tips for defensive cycling. If you’ve been wanting to ride your bicycle more often but fear the dangers of the road, this video will leave you feeling empowered and ready to ride with car traffic.

Ever notice groups of cyclists riding in those tight formations that just scream “expertise” and “serious athletes here”? It’s called riding in a paceline. This lesson demonstrates how to position yourself in a group of cyclists and how to rotate periodically that so every cyclist gets a turn at the helm. A cycling paceline will help the group keep an even speed and even offers wind shelter. So watch, learn, and hit the road!

Want the ultimate group bike riding experience? Learn to communicate with other cyclists using hand signals. This lesson will show you which signals to use when slowing down, pointing out different kinds of biking hazards, or instructing the group to change direction. Cycling is a lot more than just traffic signals, and because it’s hard to hear while bike riding, hand signals are an important part of keeping each other safe and enjoying the ride.

Racing downhill on a bicycle is an intense thrill - but it can be a major cycling hazard without the proper technique. This lesson demonstrates how to position yourself for descending on a bicycle, so you’ll be as stable as possible and ready to maneuver if needed. You’ll also learn how to descend on a curve without losing speed. After all, riding the brake won’t make your descent safer - but riding low will.

Grab your bike and hit the trail - without biting the dirt - by making use of these tips for cornering on a mountain bike. Art's Cyclery will teach you the tricks of the trade, including: how to tilt your bike into turns, how to keep your body vertical, how to maintain a low attack position and center of gravity, how to drop your heels, and how to look through your turns. With these tips you'll be racing up (and better yet, down!) mountains in no time!

Was your mountain bike chain damaged while chasing wild trails? In this second of two lessons on repairing bike chains, Art's Cyclery teaches you how to identify, remove, and replace bad links in your bicycle chain. Learn how to retain the old pin so that you can use it to attach new links, how to line up and insert new links (using the tool you created using the previous lesson), and how to get the newly repaired chain flexible enough that it can make the journey home.

Create a DIY tool for repairing your bicycle chain out on the trail using an old spoke or coat hanger! In this first of two lessons on repairing bike chains, Art's Cyclery teaches you how to take a simple piece of metal and some pliers and bend the metal into a device that can hold your chain in place when making emergency repairs out on the trail. It's easy to make and vital for a quick chain fix!

It's time to get your gears in order! Art's Cyclery shows you how to adjust and fine-tune the front dereaileur on any DI2 bicycle. Learn how to alter the deraileur height, change the cage angle, and fix the lower and upper limits. Find out exactly where every part ought to be, and what tools you'll need to get them there. You'll be coasting in no time!

Get your bike shifting with the greatest of ease. In this lesson, Art's Cyclery teaches you how to fix up the rear derailleur on a Shimano DI2 (and the technique shown here can apply to any DI2 bike). Line the chain up underneath the cog using the control box and shifting buttons, and tweak the inner limit and outer limit screws with an allen wrench until your bicycle's in perfect working order.

Your bicycle’s derailleur is essential to smooth chain movement when shifting gears, so get familiar with it. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, you’ll learn about the major adjustments you can make to the Shimano mechanical derailleur: the upper limit, lower limit, cable tension, and B-tension screw. Daniel shows you how to tell when the barrel adjuster needs to be tightened, and how to adjust the angle on the derailleur. After that, all that’s left is to hop on and enjoy the smooth ride.

Whether speed or comfort is your concern, a SRAM rear derailleur will result in a better ride, by making gear changes fast and smooth. And SRAM’s “double tap technology” means you won’t lose speed or grip while shifting. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, Daniel explains how to make adjustments to the low and high limits, as well as the cable tension, on your SRAM derailleur. Finally, learn why it is best to have the pulley on the derailleur close to the cog when adjusting the B tension screw.

Cycling is an environmentally friendly way to get exercise, enjoy the outdoors, and even save on gas money. The first step to getting started cycling is getting the right bike; the second step is getting the right fit. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, Luke demonstrates how to get the correct saddle height, and the right saddle fore and aft positions. Finally, to take pressure off of your back and wrists, learn how to flip the stem for a more comfortable angle on your handlebars.

Finding the right saddle size is key for an enjoyable bike ride—your seat must be narrow enough to avoid chafing, but wide enough to support your weight. But the good old “guess and check” method isn’t good enough for deciding what fits. Instead, learn how to measure your Sitz bones at home! Art’s Cyclery demonstrates to how to take this measurement, and how to calculate your correct saddle size from the result. Exercise doesn’t have to hurt; find your optimum saddle size today!

Not all bicycle seats are created equally! Neither will all bicycle seats fit you comfortably, or affect your performance the same way. Once you know what saddle width you need, determine what style fits you best; consider your physique and your riding position. This lesson from Art’s Cyclery highlights three different saddles: the Arione for the average rider, the WTB Devo for riders with a climber’s build (toned thighs and a thin physique), and the San Marco Concor for more muscular riders.

So you’ve got a great bike, and you’ve made adjustments so that it fits you perfectly. But do you know how to determine the correct handlebar width? In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, Gerald demonstrates two easy ways to measure for the perfect handlebar size—by lining up the handlebar with your shoulders and eye-balling it, or by measuring the distance. Whichever you prefer, just remember that different companies measure this distance differently, so a handlebar size is not universal.

You’re getting serious about cycling—so much so that you just purchased a new road bike. Despite the fact that you may have paid a pretty penny for your new ride, don’t be surprised if you have to put it together yourself. Not to worry—just learn how to put your new investment together correctly! Art’s Cyclery shows you where to apply grease, and how to attach the wheels, bike stem, and seatpost. Pump up your tires and you’ll be ready to ride!

So you want to surprise little Tommy or Susie with a bike for their birthday, but suddenly you are expected to know how to assemble all of the parts in the box! Don’t worry—Brad from Art’s Cyclery is here to demonstrate how to assemble a child’s bike, from the tools that you’ll need (like an Allen wrench and Torqkey) to tips for tightening the pedals quickly. Your kid may not realize the love and talent that went into putting their bike together; but they will know there’s nothing you can’t do.

The right chain can make a huge difference in your ride, ensuring a smooth and efficient power transfer between the pedals and the wheels—which means faster, easier, and smoother shifting. For optimum gear changes when mountain biking, consider upgrading to a SRAM PC1031 chain. In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, Daniel demonstrates how easy it is to thread the chain, determine the proper length, install the chain, and finally, how to check to make sure your chain is working exactly as it should.

Learn how to install or shorten a 10-speech Shimano bicycle chain using a chain tool! Art's Cyclery walks you through how to thread a new chain onto the gears and derailleur, use a chain tool to remove the old pin and shorten the chain, and to connect the chain with a new pin so that you get the right level of free movement within your chain. Hear how to know when to stop turning your chain tool to get the pin in just the right spot.

Keeping your bicycle chain well lubricated will ensure a smooth ride, maximize power transfer to the wheels, and increase the life of the chain—and only requires a few minutes of your time! In this lesson from Art’s Cyclery, learn how to thoroughly clean your chain and make sure that each link in the chain is lubed. Short on time? Watch and learn the faster version of the chain lubing process. Whichever way you do it, this important maintenance is well worth the little time it requires.

As a mountain biker, you enjoy covering extreme terrain at high speeds—and nothing gets in the way of your daredevil stunts like frequent stops for seat adjustments. Make these requisite interruptions a thing of the past with the KS LEV seat post! Art’s Cyclery demonstrates how to orient the seat post in the frame and mount your inline barrel adjuster. Once your cable spring is in place, you’ll be able to remotely control your seat post height for the ultimate in extreme rides.

Rattling and vibrating on your ride feels and sounds terrible, and it also puts you at significant risk. One of the most common causes of vibration and rattling on bicycles is a loose headset—so learn how to fix it yourself! Art’s Cyclery recommends which tools you should use for the job (the Ritchey Torqkey is especially recommended since using it will ensure you never overtighten a bolt) and demonstrates a sure-fire way to determine whether or not a loose headset is the source of your rattling

Don’t let inclement weather keep you from enjoying your bicycle—buy a bike trainer and pedal away indoors while watching your favorite sports team or cooking show. In this video from Art’s Cyclery, Luke demonstrates how to set up a bike trainer, mount a bike, and adjust the trainer legs (if you don’t want to use riser blocks for your front wheel). While Luke demonstrates on the Blackburn Tech Fluid Trainer, these procedures can be applied to any trainer.